Leftovers to lifelines: cafes helping feed the Illawarra

Businesses in the Illawarra are helping tackle food insecurity by teaming with charities to donate surplus food.

Cafes, restaurants and grocery stores on the Illawarra Food Donation WhatsApp group are able to connect with charities and organise donations, bolstering their food supplies as well as cutting down on food wasted.

Brown Sugar Espresso in Mangerton has partnered with St Vincent de Paul, donating fine pastries and loaves of bread five times a week.

“Fresh croissants, cakes like lamingtons or carrot cake… if that wasn’t sold today it would be donated the next day,” says Tennille Dewhurst, owner of Brown Sugar.

 Tennille believes it’s the responsibility of local businesses to give back to their community,

“We want Brown Sugar to be a safe space ... you just don't know tomorrow that you might be in a situation where you can't put food on the table or can't pay a bill,” Tennille says.

“And at the end of the day, if all of us just did something small to make a change, I feel things would be a lot happier and more positive.”

Tennille was referred to Vinnies by Healthy Cities Australia, the organisation running the WhatsApp group.

“I decided to partner with Vinnies to take it to the next level… just get an understanding of what’s really happening in the broader community,” Tennille says.

“They've been really great in explaining to me what they do weekly and how many times they actually go out into the community and where the lack of funding and needs are.

“Whether or not it's like for people doing it tough on the street or for people coming into the centre that basically are fleeing domestic violence or restarting ... it's just good to know it's touching a bit of a larger space as well.”

Donations from Brown Sugar are given out by the St Vincent De Paul Vinnies Van, which operates around the Illawarra five days a week.

Meals are prepared freshly in the hub kitchen using rescued food and are then served around Wollongong and surrounding suburbs.

St Vincent de Paul van coordinator Samantha Dredge says the program goes beyond providing food.

“We aim to provide a warm meal here in Illawarra and a conversation,” Samantha says.

“It puts things into perspective and people are very appreciative.”

Samantha says that the donations from cafes and restaurants help to humanise the program.

“We really try to make sure that the food that we're providing has dignity – good quality food, so not just scraps,” Samantha says.

“Like gourmet treats from Brown Sugar – these items aren't usually something that someone who is experiencing disadvantage would be able to indulge in.

“For us to be able to take out these random little items and have them be able to have exposure to that is really nice, and it provides that humanity to the service as well.”

Most food used to prepare the meals is supplied from Oz Harvest and Second Bite, with donations from Brown Sugar, Fig Tree Bakery and Alexanders Bakery in Corrimal providing additional niceties.

The Vinnies Van provides meals to 30 people on average in Wollongong with a recent attendance number of 50. Trips to Bellambi and Berkeley serve roughly 16 but numbers are growing across the region.